Dave Chappelle was trying to pull off a difficult piece on “Saturday Night Live” this week.
Matt Petit/AMPAS via Getty Images
hide captions
switch captions
Matt Petit/AMPAS via Getty Images
Dave Chappelle was trying to pull off a difficult piece on “Saturday Night Live” this week.
Matt Petit/AMPAS via Getty Images
No one walks the flamboyant rope as deftly as Dave Chappelle.
That thought haunted me as I watched Chappelle’s much-anticipated appearance last night on Saturday night livewhere his reception after major election events has become a tradition.
But Chappelle didn’t devote much of her monologue to the midterm elections, despite news breaking earlier in the day that Democrats had defied expectations to potentially maintain control of the Senate. institute. He spends more time talking about Kanye West and anti-Semitism.
“Early in my career, I learned that there are two words you should never say together,” Chappelle noted in his opening monologue. “Those words are… ‘the’ and ‘Jewish.’ Never heard someone do a good deed after they said it.”
YouTube
Chappelle has been a controversial guest; Critics – myself included – criticized his 2021 Netflix special Closer for its homonymous and homonymous jokes. He doesn’t apologize. As I said in my review, Chappelle seems to think he’s above the criticism; To him, race seemed to prevail over all.
That modus operandi was fully demonstrated on Saturday night. As his monologue unfolds, Chappelle negotiates well – admitting West, now known as Ye, said things so bad that even Adidas, a company founded by people brothers members of the Nazi party in the 1930ss, was offended (“I guess the student overtook the teacher.”) But at the same time, the comic seems to suggest that Ye is about Jews media control and shows that the business – echoing classic anti-epidemic stories – is not entirely untrue. (“I went to Hollywood – lots of Jews,” he said. “Like, a lot.”)
He also joked about Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving, who was suspended after posting a link to an anti-epidemic movie, called Black Hebrew: Awakening Black America, which confirms the Holocaust never happened. Chappelle noted “Black a– nowhere near the Holocaust.”
One line in particular seemed to leave the audience stunned, before they burst into applause: “I know the Jews have been through some terrible things around the world. But you can’t blame that on people. Black America.”
What does that have to do with a professional athlete posting a link to an anti-Semitic movie with no explanation – and then spending several long days disavowing the film’s anti-Semitic content – I don’t know.
For what I know, it’s one of comedy’s boldest and sharpest voices that has had the opportunity to lead an insight into black Americans’ long struggle with anti-Semitism. But instead, his monologue seems to be filled with justification and mitigation – for example, without mentioning allegations that Ye had express admiration for Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
Well, comedy is not a news report. But if we are to elevate artists of exceptional skill like Chappelle – because it feels like their work also contains powerful truths about society and life – then we must also be mindful when they presented the opposite material and obscured an issue that should have been cut and dried.
The rest of Chappelle Saturday Night Live the appearance plays out like a better-than-average episode. A pre-HBO parody Dragon House features additional Black characters, some inspired by characters from the comics’ legendary Comedy Central show Chappelle’s Show (and Ice T as light-skinned Larry Targaryen) is especially true.
YouTube
Another passage features white anchors toying with a black blues artist about his album title. Potato hole – until he told them it was a loophole the slaves dug to hide their most valuable possessions from the plantation owner – also scored.
But Chappelle’s monologue threw me off balance; Another moment when an artist whose fans admire for unraveling issues in surprising ways chose a different path, letting us all down in the process.
